Selective Responding: "We do what we feel like"

Sallams Everyone,
I know I know, I've never done two posts in one day before, but I guess i'm on a role right now. For this story, I need to fill you in on something that's been going on here in Florida for about a week or two. A 17-year-old girl, Fathima, was raised in a Muslim house in Ohio. She ran away from home after converting to Christianity, and is now here in Orlando. The battle is against childcare agents and her family. The family, naturally, wants her back in Ohio. She ran away because she said her father threatened to kill her. Whether that's true or not, I'm not sure, so I won't comment on that; this isn't a post about "who's right and who's wrong," so all my Christian readers, take a deep breath.

In the most recent update, John Stemberger is representing the girl--he's her lawyer. For her parents, we have McCarthy as their representative. What got me with this situation was the following portion of the article from the Orlando Sentinel:

In a statement released in the wake of a judge's order to keep 17-year-old Fathima
Rifqa Bary in custody of a foster family in Florida while her family is investigated
by state law enforcement officers, Craig McCarthy accused the governor (Gov. Charlie Crist) of taking
sides before evidence has been submitted.
"The governor's unfortunate decision to make a public statement taking sides in the
Rifqa Bary case before any evidence other than allegations has been presented underscores
the need to return this case to the child's home state of Ohio," McCarthy said in
the statement. "Governor Crist stated that he was 'grateful' that the judge ruled
a specific way and in support of his 'administration's position.'"

I find it absolutely unbelievable that Crist stepped in here, but when it came to the Free Speech Summit, he didn't even blink an eye. Is it just me, or do Muslims seem to be shoved off again? I give our President some benefit of the doubt (regardless of my last post)--he has quite a bit to deal with. However, Crist has no excuse at all. If he could step in so quickly with this case, why was I ignored? This is the Email he sent back to me when I first contacted him through United Voices to stop the summit from taking place.

Thank you for contacting Governor Charlie Crist. The Governor asked
that I respond on his behalf.

Governor Crist wants to know how people feel about the many issues we
face. For assistance with your concerns, you may wish to contact
Representative Hasner's Office directly at the address below:
The Honorable Adam Hasner
Florida House of Representatives
33 Northeast Fourt Avenue
Delray Beach, Florida 33483-4528
Phone: (561) 279-1616

The Governor believes having access to government is among the most
important rights Floridians and Americans possess, no matter which side
of an issue they are on. Please do not hesitate to write again to share
your concerns and ideas about issues that are important to you.

Yes, that's right. He blew me off! And now he's releasing statements saying he's "grateful" this girl got to stay in Florida?

In a previous article (sorry, I don't have the article off-hand,) Rep Adam Hasner also issued a statement to the effect of "people should not be prosecuted for their beliefs." Dear representative, who sponsored the Free Speech Summit? I can't believe you had the guts to say this when you yourself stood up with your GOP party and prosecuted us!

It's this type of foul play we are seeing today in our government. Leaving religion aside, (although I believe religion has a big part to play in the lawmakers' statements,) we see that they're picking and choosing who they like and dislike...and if you're not on their "okay, I may want to respond to that" list, well, tough luck. Forget the last post, I am angrier with Crist now than I am with our President. This man spent $483,000 to go to Europe on a twelve day trip, effectively ignored my letter, and my rebuttal. Also, he didn't care about the people he is supposed to be serving at all (as you can see from the Email he sent me--which, I may add, he didn't even care enough to send on his own! No, of course not. "I can't be bothered...you send it on my behalf.") So much for your GOP party, Crist!
Ma'a sallamah,
Munawar

A Letter to Our Government

Sallams All,
I would like to apologize for not including this letter in my post entitled Your government hates the people it serves. That post was already long, and I did not want to clutter it with more information, so I have split up the posts. Below, I have provided the cover letter which went along with the rebuttal to our government. You will find two things: first, the actual images of the letters which contain the signatures of everyone who signed (thanks to all of you.) Next, for my visually impaired readers, you will find the text version of the letters.



TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
We recently heard of a summit led by GOP leaders in our Floridian government that invited Wilders--maker of the video Fitna--to speak out against Islam. As the Shia Muslim community of Orlando, Florida, we are appalled at what took place recently. We are ashamed that our government--who is supposed to be representing us--would take such illogical steps to driving out a minority.

Since the Muslim Capitol Day in March of this year, Representative Adam Hasner has been trying time and again to mock us as Muslims; the holding of this summit was just that. The author of this letter is visually impaired, and is writing on behalf of all those who have signed it. He feels that this country has stood by him when he needed the most expensive pieces of technology to be successful in the workplace, and he feels that the government has sincerely let him down. As our representatives, who should be serving us, as the people, we ask that you speak out against Hasner and condemn his actions. We have included a rebuttal to Wilders' claims in this letter; we urge you to read it. Islam is not a religion of terrorism, and war, nor is it a fascist political ideology. Wilder was able to speak in front of the government without any credible information (or, more correctly, information which is purposely misleading, misinterpreted, and fabricated.) He used the Suni ideological thoughts to justify what he was saying, but failed to point out that the real Islam does not support these actions. In other words, he was brought for one purpose: to spread falsehoods.

Our honored representatives, this is an open letter to you urging that you take action against Hasner. We are citizens like yourself, who pay taxes, attend American schools, etc; and most of us were born as American citizens, whose parents migrated to this country to give us better lives than they had. Thus, we have all the same rights that any American citizen has; we are not foreign, aliens, or outcasts; this is our home, and we do not appreciate the government taking actions, openly, to debase us. WE WILL NOT STAND DOWN! We are tired of the propaganda that is taking place against us; we are tired of the lies brought forth against us; and we are ashamed that our government allowed Wilders to speak, even though his ideology is so obviously misconstrued that he is banned from setting foot in the United Kingdom. We as American citizens do not hate America; rather, it is America who hates us, and we are imploring you as our representatives to stop this hate. This country's foundations lie in religious freedom and tolerance, and the spreading of falsehood against Islam is not helping this ideal.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and we hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Munawar Ali Bijani,
ON BEHALF OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SIGNED BELOW
Please send response to:
[Deleted to avoid spam]
or:
[Deleted, can be found in image]
Ma'a sallamah,
Munawar